Arthur Goldsmith
Jackson T. Stephens Professor of Economics

Professor Goldsmith joined the Williams School faculty in 1990 after teaching previously at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Connecticut in Storrs. In addition to teaching course on macroeconomics and on race he has also taught courses on Behavior Economics, the Bell Curve, and Economic Themes in Literature and Film. Many of the courses he leads incorporate service learning and virtually all of them are interdisciplinary oriented since they draw on insights from other disciplines to foster a deeper understanding of the topics being explored. A global perspective is also emphasized.

His research combines insights from economics, psychology, sociology, and history to explore questions regarding wages, employment, unemployment, psychological well-being, access to health-care, educational accumulation, and the link between children's well-being and subsequent life outcomes. He has published articles in a number of the professions leading journals including: the Journal of Economic Literature, the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Journal of Human Resources, Economic Inquiry, the Southern Economic Journal, and the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Grants from the National Science Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have supported his work in recent years. Professor Goldsmith has served as Vice President of the Southern Economics Association, and serves on the editorial board of both the Journal of Economic Psychology, and the Journal of Socio-Economics.

Art and his wife Jan Kaufman have a daughter, Allyson and a son, Ben. Allyson is a graduate of Brandeis University and holds Masters Degrees in both Public Administration and in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She is the Founder and Executive Director of ELEVEate (www.ELEVEate.org) a 501(c)3 organization that affords girls in Senegal with educational opportunities by providing them with their birth certificate, needed to take the National Secondary School Entrance Exam, and other forms of educational support. She is employed by RESULTS in Washington D.C as the Advocacy and Outreach Associate. Ben is a graduate of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Florida where he majored in Media Writing and Production and minored in Songwriting through the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, and in Music Business. He resides in Nashville Tennessee where he works for BMG Chrysalis and hopes to one day become a staff songwriter with a music publisher. His songs which aim to tell a compelling story that touch people emotionally and to make them reflect fit the genres of country, Americana, and pop. Jan holds an MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the Director of Health Promotion at Washington and Lee. Within the community Art and Jan have served on numerous boards including Woods Creek Center for Montessori and Healthy Foods Coop, and for a number of years Jan was the President of the Board of Fine Arts in Rockbridge, the local fine arts association. Jan is an avid jewelry maker and turns all of the proceeds over to charity.

Education

Ph.D. in Economics, University of Illinois (1979)

M.A. in Economics, University of Illinois (1977)

B.S. in Economics, University of Bridgeport (1975) (Summa cum laude)

Research

Professor Goldsmith's research focuses on why there are differences in life outcomes in the areas of education, health, and economic status and the consequences of these differences for economic and social well-being. He draws on insights from economics, sociology and psychology to examine the sources of these gaps across groups and between persons in a given group.

Teaching

Macroeconomics (Principles, and Intermediate), the Economics of Social Issues, the Economics of Race and Ethnicity, and Colorism.